


The Night Before Christmas

by dollylux



Series: Fic Advent Calendar 2014: Brothers, Soulmates, and Other Such Sexiness [8]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Christmas Cookies, Christmas Eve, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Bliss, Fireplaces, Jensen in a Onesie, Kid Fic, M/M, New Kink of Mine Hi Hello, Reading Aloud
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-08
Updated: 2014-12-08
Packaged: 2018-02-28 16:47:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2739779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dollylux/pseuds/dollylux
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jared and Jensen on Christmas Eve with their kids.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Night Before Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> Day eight of my fic advent challenge. Prompt: children.

“Okay, Shep’s down. Finally.” Jensen walks back into the kitchen with a sigh, his tired eyes meeting Jared’s as he slips behind him. He runs a hand up Jared’s waist and kisses him when Jared turns to offer up his smiling mouth.

“Stubborn, iddn’t he?” Jared transfers cookies from a baking sheet to the wax paper he’s got laid out on the island, eyes now on Tom and JJ who are sitting at their Little Tikes picnic table a few feet away, armed with icing and cookies and glittery sprinkles and making an unholy mess.

“Wonder where he gets that?” Jensen bumps Jared with his hip as he pushes his sleeves up, grinning when Jared turns to smirk at him. “So, how’s it goin’ out here?”

“Oh, _Southern Living_ is sending over some photographers right now. They’re gonna do a spread of the final results.” Jared nods over at the kids, holding in his laugh when JJ shoves her tiny hand into the bowl of red icing and very, very carefully smears it all over the reindeer sugar cookie in front of her. 

“You need any help?” Jensen keeps his voice soft, searching Jared’s eyes and leaning up to kiss him when Jared shakes his head, nodding for Jensen to go ahead over to the kids’ table. He shuffles over, feeling the grit of sugar under his socked feet, and crouches down next to the table, his face open and animated, eyes wide. “What’ve we got here, huh?”

“Papa, wook!” Tom lifts the bell-shaped cookie he’s currently decorating, the top part of it a glop of red icing and the bottom a weird greenish-brown from the mix of icings, the whole thing covered in candy sugar and silver, edible beads. Tom’s got icing all over his mouth, all over his shirt, and all over his hands, his eyes wild with sugar rush. And he’s beaming right at Jensen.

“Wow! That’s beautiful, Tom! Jay, did you see this? We’re gonna have to get these kids on a cooking show.” Jensen rubs Tom’s back while he turns to throw Jared a wink and grabbing the stack of paper towels on the island behind him, doing as much damage control as he can on Tom’s person: wiping his face and his hands and pushing his hair back from his face to try and save it from a sugary doom.

“Cookie!” JJ shrieks, holding up a bell cookie like Tom’s that very quickly gets crushed in her excited hand, most of the crumbles landing in the green(ish brown now) icing. Jensen reaches over and plucks a bit of cookie from the bowl and eats it, closing his eyes as he chews.

“Mmm! So yummy. You’re good at this, girlie.” He dips his finger into the icing and wipes some on his nose, gasping and crossing his eyes to look at it. JJ explodes with laughter, clapping her messy hands together while Tom grins, reaching over to gather icing on his fingers and reaching up to wipe it on Jensen’s cheek. Jensen gasps, looking over at Tom in surprise which just makes Tom cackle.

“Papa cookie!” JJ tries to get in on it too, shoving most of her hand into the cookiefied icing and wiping it on Jensen’s arm. He closes his eyes very briefly and bites his bottom lip, trying so, so hard not to cringe at the thought of how much icing is on his body right now and that Jared probably isn’t going to be the one to clean it off of him.

“Papa cookie?! I think I need to see this.” Jared dashes over from the island and leans down over Jensen, beaming when he sees his frosted face, his sugary mouth, his pained expression. 

“Jay,” Jensen says warningly, leaning back when Jared moves in, his mouth opening dramatically. JJ and Tom burst into excited giggles, both of them climbing up from their benches and moving in on either side of Jensen.

Jared dips in and licks at the icing Tom wiped on Jensen’s cheek, and JJ jumps into Jensen’s lap, causing him to fall down onto his butt on the dirty floor. Tom is right behind her, wrapping his arms around Jensen’s neck and rubbing his filthy little face all over Jensen’s other cheek.

“Daddy eated Papa Cookie!” Tom slides into Jensen’s lap right beside JJ, and Jensen lowers an arm to wrap around him so he won’t fall off. He sighs and Jared laughs softly against his ear, nuzzling at him with his nose before he drops a kiss to his cheek.

“Alright, turkeys. Let’s go get cleaned up and let Papa find his dignity. Upstairs for a bath!” Jared straightens up and plucks JJ from Jensen’s lap as he does, sitting her down gently on the floor so Tom can take her hand and lead her toward the stairs.

“Hold on to her, Tom,” Jensen calls after them as he climbs to his feet, one of his knees popping in protest. “Go slow, buddy.”

Jared and Jensen watch with held breath while they all but crawl up the stairs, JJ with one hand on each step and Tom holding onto the railing, their little, frost-covered hands clasped between them. They get icing everywhere they touch.

Jensen sighs, long-suffering and pitiful, and he has to bite back a smile when Jared wraps his arms around him and kisses at his neck, his jaw.

“My poor babe,” Jared murmurs, hands sliding down Jensen’s back and into his jeans, gripping his ass and kneading it with big, firm hands. “We’ll clean up after they go to sleep. I’m gonna go give ‘em a bath. Maybe you can get a fire going and find the book? They’ve gotta go to bed soon.”

“Yeah, right, Jay. It’s Christmas Eve. Do you remember how hard it was to fall asleep on Christmas Eve?” He arches back into those hands, accepting each kiss Jared drops on his skin and returning it with ones of his own.

“Yeah, but they’ve had a big day. Pictures with Santa and the toy store _and_ making Christmas cards for Mom and Dad with no nap? They’re probably gonna crash any minute.” Jared presses a final kiss to Jensen’s mouth before he’s forcing himself to pull away, heading towards the stairs where he can hear JJ and Tom giggling somewhere in the hallway.

“The Christmas PJs Gen got them are on our bed in the green bag,” Jensen reminds him, biting the bullet and plucking all of the “finished” cookies off of the little table and putting them on a plate for Santa. 

“Right. Oh, hey, text my mom, will you? Tell her we’ll be over around one. I wanna do Christmas here and make breakfast and not have to rush.” Jared is up the stairs in no time, and his laugh carries all the way down to the kitchen, making Jensen smile. “I see Tom’s cheekies!”

“Cheekies!” JJ’s laugh bursts into the warm air, and Jensen’s chest tightens with affection. He washes his hands and his face at the kitchen sink with a dopey smile, sending up thanks to whoever might be listening for being allowed to have this time, this night, with his little family.

 

Forty-five minutes later, the trio are back downstairs, JJ and Tom in matching Avengers Christmas pajamas and Jared in dark blue and green flannel pants and a too-tight, too-thin National Forensics League t-shirt from high school that Jensen has a minor obsession with. He gives Jared an appreciative, lingering look before he goes upstairs himself to change into the pajamas he’d bought a month ago in absolute secrecy and kept hidden until now, for this moment.

He comes back downstairs with his battered, childhood copy of _’Twas the Night Before Christmas_ and walks right into the livingroom that is now cozy with the warm little fire in the fireplace and the honeyed glow of the white lights on the tree.

The kids are chittering between them, Tom seamlessly understanding most of JJ’s babble and occasional words, and he’s graciously letting her play with his Elsa doll while he plays with the replica of the Impala, vrooming and driving all over the presents and the coffee table and Daddy’s leg. Daddy who is staring up at Jensen in wonder, his mouth slack with sudden arousal.

“Jensen.”

“Hmm?” Jensen preens a little on the inside, not turning to face Jared but instead fussing needlessly over the stockings hanging from the mantel, a smirk pulling at his mouth.

“You’re wearing a onesie.”

Jensen looks down at himself, at the red, Fair Isle-printed onesie pajamas with snowmen in jaunty lines all the way down to his ankles, making sure his expression is as innocent as possible before he turns to look at Jared. “Huh. I guess I am.”

“How did you make a onesie hot?” Jared is reaching for Jensen, making JJesque grabby hands at him, and Jensen goes willingly, smiling as he sinks down onto the couch and right up against Jared, snuggling against him when Jared wraps his arms around him. 

“Because you like lookin’ at my ass,” Jensen replies quietly, tipping his head to give Jared room to kiss up the side of it, his eyes falling closed to savor it.

“Yeah, but. How am I supposed to be able to--”

“There’s a little butt flap that comes unbuttoned,” Jensen interrupts, turning to grin at Jared and letting himself be kissed, parting his lips for it for just a few seconds before he’s pulling away again, his cheeks flushed and his mouth a little puffy now. “C’mon, rugrats! I’m gonna read you a story you’ll get sick of in three pages.”

Tom and JJ jump up, the Impala and Elsa coming along with them as they scramble up onto the couch and into Jared and Jensen’s laps, Tom leaning back against Jensen’s chest and helping him open the book and JJ looking absolutely tiny where Jared is cuddling her, pressing kiss after kiss to her soft, slightly damp hair.

“Papa’s gonna read you a book about Santa,” Jared says softly into her hair, one of her little hands tucking into Jared’s massive one.

“Santa coming tonight?” Tom looks up at Jared with big, hopeful eyes. Jared reaches over and brushes Tom’s hair out of his eyes, pressing a kiss to his forehead and settling in deeper into the couch.

“Let’s find out.”

 

JJ is sacked out well before Santa shows up in the story, but Tom’s awake and rapt, staring down at the book as Jensen reads the last line.

“‘Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!’” He waits a couple of beats, the perfect amount of reverence for the ending before he closes the book, glancing over and smiling at the way JJ is curled up against Jared’s lap, her mouth slack in sleep. 

“Daddy, Santa’s gonna bwing pwesents tonight?” Tom’s voice is quiet with wonder, and he’s blinking at the Christmas tree and then over to the fireplace, like he’s trying to figure out exactly how this is going to go down. 

“Mhmm,” Jared replies, one of his hands carding soft and lazy through JJ’s now-dry hair, sleepy eyes on their son. “But he only comes after you go to sleep. Are you ready to go to bed?”

Tom nods, his big brown eyes wide and solemn, and he turns to Jensen and wraps his arms around his neck, ready to be taken upstairs. Jensen puts the book down on the coffee table and stands up, keeping Tom tucked against him as he turns to look at Jared.

“You got her, babe?”

“I got her,” Jared whispers, cradling JJ against his broad chest, holding her like she’s made of glass, like she’s the most precious thing in the world. It makes Jensen ache every time he sees Jared with her, with their little girl, makes him feel utterly complete and in love and so grateful that they have this, that they’ve sacrificed and fought and earned this. That against all odds, they’re right here. Together.

They tuck the kids into their toddler beds in the room they share here at the Austin house, Tom almost completely asleep by the time Jensen gets him under the covers and his Elsa doll into his arms. They stand in the doorway of the room and watch them for a long time, Jared draped warm and solid against Jensen’s back, arms around his waist. The nightlights are on, artificial candles lit in the windows, and both kids are quiet now, asleep.

Jared kisses Jensen’s cheek, keeps his lips there to murmur. “I’m gonna go put the big presents out and set up the cookies and milk. Why don’t you go get in bed and get that ass up for me so I can work on getting that flap undone as soon as I can?”

Jensen shivers, nodding but not saying a word, not trusting his voice. Just tips his head up and meets Jared halfway for a long, hungry kiss before Jared’s gone, shuffling back downstairs. Jensen stays where he is for a couple of minutes longer, watching their kids sleep before retreating to the bedroom.

 

It’s before dawn when Jensen wakes up at the feel of the blankets being pulled back and warm little fingers on his cheeks. He cracks an eye open and sees Tom standing over him, his hair sticking up just like Jared’s does, eyes bleary from sleep.

“Santa come wast night, Papa?”

Jensen grunts and glances over at the clock on the nightstand, only just managing to hold back a groan.

“Yeah, baby,” he sighs, reaching back as swiftly as he can to fasten the flap on his pajamas to cover his ass again. “Give Papa and Daddy just a few minutes to wake up, and we’ll go downstairs. Why don’t you go wake JJ up?”

“She’s waked! We’re dwawing.”

“Okay. Okay, awesome. Gimme five and we’ll do this thing, alright?”

Tom nods, beaming as he dashes away, socked feet thundering on hardwood floor. Jensen turns to look at Jared who is mid-snore and dead to the world, the covers off of his feet like they always are, hair plastered to the side of his face.

He’s the most beautiful thing Jensen has ever seen.

“Wake up, sleepyhead.” He kisses Jared’s cheek, hair and all before he’s sliding his fingers through it, tucking it behind his ear to tame it a little. Jared grunts vaguely, and Jensen kisses down to his scruffy jaw and nuzzles at his neck. “C’mon, the kids are already awake. I’ll go get Shep and change him if you’ll go downstairs and warm up a bottle and get the fire going again.”

“But brnghf,” Jared argues but he’s stirring, turning over on his back and pulling Jensen with him, tugging him to sprawl over his chest, his sleep-heavy hands on Jensen’s back.

Jensen grins, reaching up to lace his hand with Jared’s, their wedding rings clinking. “Merry Christmas to you, too.”

Jared opens his eyes for that, a sudden, beautiful color display of warm green and pale brown in the still mostly dark room, and a smile pulls at his mouth that Jensen just has to kiss.

“Merry Christmas, Jensen.”

“PAPAAAAAAAAA. DADDYYYYY.”

They groan, grinning against each other’s lips.

“Okay,” Jared sighs, cupping Jensen’s face. “Let’s do this. But you have to wear the Santa hat and hand out the presents. And keep one side of your booty-access flap unbuttoned.”

Jensen waggles his eyebrows and pulls Jared to sit up with him. “I can do that. Perv.”

“You love me.” Jared climbs out of bed and stretches and Jensen follows, wrapping his arms around Jared and leaning up to kiss him when he’s done yawning, his mouth tasting like sleep and faintly of icing and come. He can’t help if his eyes are a little dreamy when Jared looks down at him.

“I do,” he sighs against Jared’s lips. “Very, very much.”


End file.
